


All In

by everystareverywhere



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Accidentally Getting Married, F/M, Vacation, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-10-01
Packaged: 2018-02-17 17:21:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2317334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everystareverywhere/pseuds/everystareverywhere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John, Rose, Jack, and Donna decide to take a holiday in Las Vegas. Nothing could go wrong. Right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All my own grammar mistakes. 
> 
> This is based on a fanfiction I read a long time ago for a different fandom. However, I don't remember who wrote it or what it was called. If this rings a bell for anyone, let me know!

“Do you think this is a good idea?”

“Of course it is! I’m the one who thought of it, yeah?”

“True, true. But maybe…No, you’re right. This is good.”

“I told you. Now, let’s do this.”

 

~*~

 

John Noble awoke to pounding. It was the loudest thumping noise he had ever heard in his life. It was like someone was hammering a nail right next to his ear. He was about to complain why on Earth someone would decide to pound on the door for no ungodly reason when he realized the noise was actually inside of his head. His head was pounding. Groaning, John rubbed his forehead lightly before his arm flopped down beside him. Only it hit a bump.

Opening his eyes slowly, John first groaned when the tiny bit of light shining in through the curtains hit his eyes. Oh, why did that sun have to be so _bright_? Couldn’t it just be…not as bright for once? Determined to continue on his little mystery, however, John cracked his eyes again to see what he could have possibly have hit. And it was then he realized that he was not alone. Someone was sleeping next to him. Someone who had blonde hair.

John’s mind hurt too much to do some actual thinking, but he felt like he knew someone who had blonde hair. It was right there on the tip of his mind—

Oh, yes, his best friend, Rose Tyler.

Rose and John had known each other since childhood, having grown up two blocks away. Though John was a year older, they had attended the same school and almost followed each other footsteps until university, when John decided to go to America to study physics. Rose stayed behind in London and got her degree in English Literature. There were now in their proper jobs—him a computer expect in an up-and-coming computing company and her as an English professor.

And now they were in Las Vegas. Yes, it was coming back to John; slowly, but it was there. The both of them, and John’s older by two years sister Donna and his roommate from college, Jack Harkness, decided to take a weeklong vacation in Las Vegas. It was the first time Rose and Donna had ever left England, and it was John’s first trip this far west. They were all really excited about the prospect of losing a lot of money and drinking until they couldn’t walk.

Looks like they did the latter perfectly.

However, why Rose was currently in his bed and not in her own room, was something that he would think about later. Sometime when the world stopped spinning and the idea of throwing up didn't sound so appealing. 

Groaning, John sat up, rubbing his hand over his face. He looked over at the clock: 7:34 a.m. Oh God, what a hangover he had. It was their third day there, but it seemed like they went to every single bar and nightclub they could. John couldn’t really remember what happened the previous night, though he was trying. All he could remember was Donna suggesting that they each get a shot of tequila, Rose insisting that she dance with someone, Jack making a remark that made both Rose and Donna slap his head, and John placing close to a thousand dollars in American currency down on the table. There were other imagines there as well, but they passed so quickly it was like someone was flashing them before his eyes. He could see Rose—it was clearly her—with her head back, laughing hysterically at something someone said or did. And there was Donna, who had her arm around Jack, and John who just remembers holding someone’s hand the whole night. He really hoped it was Rose’s because if he held his sister’s or Jack’s hand all night, he was going to need therapy.

Swinging his feet over the edge of the bed, John groaned once more while rubbing his face. He never felt this bad in his life. Not even when he got the flu a couple of years back. His head could not stop pounding and he was sure he looked like hell. Because he certainly felt like it.

Just as he was about to get up, Rose groaned from beside him. He slowly turned around and saw her peeking out from under the blanket—why he was lying on top of it and her under it, he had no idea—before pulling it back over her head with another groan.

“Rose,” John slurred, giving the bump a pat. He cleared his throat before trying again. “Rose. Wake up.” Better.

“John?” she asked, slowly coming back out again, like a turtle coming out of its shell. “John, is that you?”

“Yeah. God, Rose, how much did we drink last night?”

With the blanket still covering her, Rose answered, “Enough for me to never touch alcohol again.” She moaned. “John, I feel like crap.”

Deciding that sitting up was just too much, John laid now beside her again. “Me too. Can we just sleep here?”

“Yes.”

John must have fallen back asleep because when he looked at the clock again it said 9:41. Feeling just a little bit better, John sat up once more. His head wasn’t pounding as badly, though it was clear that he still was not going to touch alcohol for the remainder of the trip. Hell, maybe for the remainder of his life. Alcohol equals feeling like shit, and this was something that John never, ever, wanted to experience again.

Once more he patted the person next to him. “Rose. Rose. Wake up.”

“John Noble, I hate you,” the voice from under the blanket muttered.

“I know. But you need to wake up. We need to talk about last night.”

“Nothing ‘appened. Sleep now.”

“It’s after nine thirty.”

“Sleep.”

John laid back down. “We need to talk,” he muttered before closing his eyes once more. Sleep was good.

“Later,” he heard before going back into dreamland.

Once more John woke up, feeling a dull throb in his head, though the achiness he had earlier was gone.  Rose was now facing him, her eyes were still closed, her mouth slightly open. John could see a trail of drool escaping.

Even like this, John had to admire just how beautiful she was. And Rose Tyler was beautiful. John always thought so. When they were teenagers, John had a huge crush on her. He was certain everyone saw it; Donna commented on it enough times. She always told him to just ask her out, but he never could. Rose was one of the popular kids; the beautiful cheerleader who would never look twice at John. Actually, that wasn’t true. While Rose was popular, she was never a cheerleader. Gymnast yes, cheerleader no. And she always made time for John, no matter how busy her schedule was. Rose was kindhearted and just warm. It wasn’t hard to see why John would have a crush on her. And though he knew Rose loved him, he also knew that it was just platonic love. Rose was lovely, witty, and the smartest girl he ever met. John was tall, geeky, farsighted, and though a genius, often needed Rose to bring him back to reality. They completed each other in way that no one else could. He didn’t know what he would do if Rose ever walked out of his life. He’d be lost without her.

Rolling over, John looked at the clock: 11:19. Rolling back to look at Rose, John tried—unsuccessfully—to ignore the headache that was right behind his eyes and focus on his best friend. It was moments like this that made him feel like a gorky teenager again.

John was about to dose again when he suddenly remembered that they were meeting Jack and Donna at the hotel’s restaurant for lunch. Which was just in about an hour. John sighed. Rose was going to smack him.

“Rose, wake up,” he said, giving her a gentle push. “Come on, Rose, wake up.”

“Argh.”

Luckily he knew she was not a morning person. “Rose, up. Come on, we’re meeting Jack and Donna in an hour.”

Without lifting her head, she gently smacked her lips before saying, “John, I swear, I will hit you.”

He grinned. She was adorable when she was pissed. Especially when she wasn’t fully awake yet. “I know. Come on now. Up, up, up.”

She groaned, but flipped over, so she was on her back. Slowly opening her eyes and looked around the room before finally settling on the man next to her. “Why am I in your room?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you crashed here?”

She nodded. “Okay. We’ll go with that. I better head back to my room.” She slowly turned her body to the side of the bed and tried to stand up, but fell back down. “Once, you know, my legs start working again.” Rubbing her forehead, she asked, “John, what did we _do_ last night?”

“You mean besides get horribly pissed?”

“Yeah. Because I only remember bits and pieces.” She turned to face him. “Do you remember anything?” He told her what he could remember. She nodded before saying, “I remember you were very excited about something, and that I needed to find a pen for some reason. I distinctly remember looking for a pen. Oh, and Jack kept flirting with a guy at the bar, do you remember? Tall, good-looking, with dark brown hair? Maybe it was black.”

He shook his head. “No. But I just have imagines, really.”

She nodded. “Okay. We’ll talk to Jack and Donna. Maybe they’ll remember more.” She turned back before looking at John over her shoulder. “I’m going to try getting up again.”

“God speed.”

She gave one nod before slowly getting up. She took a couple of steps before holding onto the wall. John too turned to get off the bed and managed a few steps before Rose asked, “Um, John?”

“Yeah?”

“Why is my stuff all here?”

Turning around, John looked next the dresser where there was Rose’s purse and suitcase, which was opened up, though nothing seemed to be taken out. She looked down at herself before looking back over at John. “We changed into our pajamas.”

“Huh. I guess we did.”

“Why did I bring all my stuff here?” She shook her head before looking in her purse. “John,” she said after a moment.

He was by his suitcase, pulling out some clothes to change into. “Yeah?”

“I can’t find my room key.”

“Maybe you lost it.”

“After I moved all my stuff here?”

“Rose, I don’t know,” John said, not aggravated, as much as just tired. “Call the front desk and ask them for another key.”

“Right. Yeah, okay.” Rose walked over towards the phone while John went into the bathroom. After doing his business and brushing his teeth, he took a quick shower to help him wake up—didn’t work—and tried not think about the fact that he woke up next to Rose—definitely failing there—before finishing up and changing into his clothes. Walking out with a cloud of smoke behind him, John said, “Bathroom’s free.”

Rose was sitting on the bed, nibbling at her thumb nail. John knew what that meant: something wasn’t going occurring to plan. “Rose? What’s the matter?”

Looking up at him, Rose said confused, “I talked to the front desk. They told me that I cancelled that room and moved to this one. They said that they could move me again, if I wanted to. I told them I’d get back to them because, John, I have no idea what’s going on. Why did I cancel my room and move in here with you?”

John placed his pajamas on his open suitcase and sat down next to Rose. “I’m sure we’ll figure this out. There was probably something wrong with your room, that’s all. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Rose nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Go take a shower. You’ll feel better.”

“Do you feel better?”

“Let me take some Tylenol and I’ll get back to you.”

Rose grinned before getting up and walking to her suitcase to pick up some clothes. As she closed the door to the bathroom, John got up and walked towards the dresser, hoping he left his watch there. He did, but there was another piece of jewelry next to it that confused him. A ring. A cheap golden ring. John had no idea where he got it, and shrugged thinking it was probably Rose’s. That was, until he saw the piece of paper close to the television.

Rose slammed opened the door just as John picked up the piece of paper.

“John,” Rose said, almost hysterical. “John, look at my hand!”

Looking at her, John saw a ring, almost identical to the one he found next to his watch, on her ring finger. On her left hand.

He looked back down at the paper. A Nevada marriage license with both of their names on it.

“Rose,” John said, trying to breath, “I think I know what we did last night.”


	2. Chapter 2

“ _We got married?!_ ” Rose all but screamed.

John’s head was spinning. He couldn’t remember anything about getting married last night, but there it was. The piece of paper was in his hand, and although the handwriting was almost illegible, there was definitely a “J,” “N,” “R,” and a “T” on it.

Married? He, John Noble, _married_ Rose Tyler?! He couldn’t even ask her out on a date, yet he proposed?! And she _accepted_?! He needed to sit down, lie down, go back to sleep, because surely this was all a dream. He could not have drunkenly asked Rose to marry him and then they got _married_ in some cheap chapel in _Las Vegas_ of all bloody places. God, this would be something the reckless Jack Harkness would do, not sturdy John Noble. How could this even be possible?! Nothing about it made the least bit of sense, yet the evidence was clear as day. They must have gotten their rings from that stupid machine where you put in coins and get some kind of prize, because there was no way he paid good money for this cheapo thing.

“Oh my God, John,” Rose muttered, pacing close to him. “Oh my God! What are we going to do? My mum is going to kill me!”

“Your mum?! What about Donna? She’s gonna slaughter me!” Oh Donna would surely be beyond angry at her little brother. He could just imagine Donna screaming at him on how stupid did he have to be to go and drunkenly marry his best friend! She would hit him, and he would deserve it. Because of all the crazy things he has done in the past, nothing was as bad as this.

“Oh, God, John, and we have to meet with her. And Jack! Oh, Jack will think this is hysterical, but Donna…John, what are we going to do?!”

John put the piece of paper down and said, “Nothing. We’re going to do nothing.”

“What…?”

“For now. I’m sure we’re not the first people to get pissed and then get married and we surely won’t be the last. We’ll look for a place where we can get a divorce.” He ignored the feeling of his stomach dropping at just that thought and continued on. “We won’t tell anyone about this. This will be our little secret.”

“We’re not going to tell anyone we got married?”

“Rose, we got drunk and…I don’t know! I must have proposed or something. Do you remember?”

“No.” Rose’s eyes opened wide as a thought struck her. “John, what if they already know? What if they were there?”

“If they were there, Donna would have been pounding on the door as soon as she got up. No, I don’t think they were there. Maybe we snuck off or something.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” She sighed before sitting on the bed. “I can’t believe we got married.”

He sat down next to her. “I know.” He noticed her looking at her ring, playing with it a bit. “I could do better you know. I have some money aside. I could have bought you a nicer ring.”

She looked at him teasingly. “Why, John Noble, did you just admit that you were planning on buying me a wedding ring?”

John’s face turned bright red as he hastily said, “What, no! No, I just meant—”

“I know what you meant. I’m just teasing.”

He looked down at his fingers. “I know. I just…You deserve the best, Rose. You do. And not some drunken mistake…You deserve the whole thing. The flowers and the church and the bridesmaid and the weeping mother and everything. You deserve all of it. Not…” he gestured to her ring. “This.”

She gently knocked her shoulder into his. “You too. You deserve the wedding of your dreams with the woman of your dreams.”

John looked at her and he wanted so much to tell her he thinks he already found her. It was right there, right on the tip of his tongue. His throat was burning to say the words. But he didn’t. Because he couldn’t. Because Rose Tyler was his best friend, his defender, and he couldn’t risk losing her because of his damn heart. He cared for Rose too much.

But this feeling he had within, this had to be love. This need to take care of someone and want to be there for them. He always had that feeling when it came to Rose. Maybe it was time he examined it fully.

But not right this second. Because right now, they had to get ready to meet Jack and Donna.

Rose finished getting ready while John examined his wedding ring while lying on the bed. It really was a piece of crap. It was fake gold; if he picked at it, it would start chipping off. And it was also expandable, not something that he particularly wanted in a wedding ring. But right now it was his and it showed that he pledged his life to Rose.

He just couldn’t believe that when drunk, _this_ was the best he could do.

But there was something else that bothered him. Did the people at the chapel see how drunk they were? Didn’t they stop it? Or are they now on just a long list of people who got drunk and then married? Sighing, John wondered just how they were going to get out of this.

Rose came out of the bedroom and John sat up, admiring her. She was wearing a light pink sundress that hit her knees and her hair was still wet from her shower. As she put it up on a bun, she said, “We’re going to have to do research when we get back.”

“Research? On what?”

She sat down next to him, putting on her sandals. “Where we can…where the local courthouse is. We need to get this done pronto.”

He nodded. “Yes.”

She nodded too. “Right. Come on. Let's not delay this any longer.”

 

~*~

 

“Should we say anything?”

“No.”

“But—”

“It’ll be fine. You’ll see, it will all work out in the end.”

 

~*~

 

John and Rose met Donna and Jack in the hotel’s restaurant, Delight’s. They were staying at The Signature at the MGM Grand—absolutely stunning and John couldn’t understand how Jack got a discount on the rooms, but he wasn’t going to say anything. As they walked in, John once again asked Rose if they should say anything, but Rose was firm with her “No.” They discussed on the way down that it would be best if they didn’t say a word. The less Donna and Jack knew, the better.

After they exchanged good mornings (or rather, good afternoons), John and Rose sat down and opened their menus.

“How are you two feeling this morning?” Donna asked after looking at what she wanted before placing the menu down.

“Like I got hit in the head a hundred times with a cricket bat,” Rose answered, not looking up. “And you?”

“About the same. I swear, I am never touching alcohol again.”

“Same with me,” John said. “I barely remember last night. Do you?”

“Not really,” Jack said, taking a sip of his water. “Some things here and there. But nothing really sticks out.”

“Weren’t you flirting with some guy last night?” Rose asked Jack.

The American shrugged. “Maybe? I’m sketchy on details.”

Light conversations continued, and they ordered and enjoyed their lunch, but the whole time John wanted nothing more than to talk to Rose alone. He felt like he was going to say something, give away some detail about what they are positive happened last night. If either Jack or Donna remembered, John took some comfort in knowing, than they would have said _something_. They wouldn’t have just let it go.

The brunch (lunch?) seemed to go on for hours, though they all complained about how tired and sick to their stomachs they felt. Finally, when they got their bill, Donna said, “Rose, I’m thinking of hitting some casinos. Wanna come with?”

“Oh no,” Rose said sadly, with a shake of her head. “No, I don’t feel so good. My head…I think I’ll just go back to the room.”

Donna nodded while Jack turned to John. “What about you, _mi amigo_? Wanna lose some _dinero_?”

Knowing that he and Rose had a lot of work ahead of them, John shook his head. “No, I think I need to lay down too. Later.”

Neither friend gave them a problem as they went off to the casinos together. John and Rose walked back to the elevator, John lightly touching Rose’s back.

“Do you think they know?” Rose whispered.

“Nah. If they did, we would have heard it.”

“True. Okay. The first thing we need to do is see if the marriage license gives us any clues on where we got married.” As they boarded the elevator, Rose continued. “Next we need to do research on where we can get a…a divorce. See what the legal aspects of it all is.”

“Right. Yes.” John was barely listening. The more he thought about what laid in store of them, the more he wished he could just roll right back into bed.

When they entered their room, Rose went straight towards John’s laptop bag and took it out, setting it all up. John watched in fascination as she typed in his password and set up the Wi-Fi. “You know my password?”

“John, you are many things, and predictable is one of them. You have the same password for everything.”

He shrugged, though he didn’t know how he felt about her knowing that. It seemed almost like something a –

Shaking his head, John let that thought go. It was best for the moment not to go down that road.

Rose asked to see the marriage license, and John handed it over, asking if there was anything he could be looking up.

“No, no, I got it,” she said. Her fingers froze above the keyboard, and she looked over at him though the corner of her eyes. “It’s weird, though, that this is happening.”

“You mean getting drunk and the married?”

“No. Well, yes, but no, I mean—I mean getting a divorce. From _you_. It’s just…I don’t know what to think about that.”

He sat down on the bed closet to her chair. His heart was pounding and his hands were becoming sweaty and he got the distinct feeling that this conversation was going to change everything. Trying to remain calm and not seem overbearing, he asked, “What—What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “You’re my best mate. My best friend. We’ve done everything together and it’s just—if I had to marry anyone in the world, anyone in the universe, I…I would have picked you.” She was carefully avoiding eye contact and John thought he was going to jump out of his skin.

“Rose…”

“And the fact that we’re trying to get a divorce,” she quickly interrupted, as though if she stopped talking now she would never get these words out, “it’s mind-boggling, because I don’t…if it was proper…What I mean is…” She looked up at him, finally making eye-contact. “I never in a million years thought I would be getting a divorce from you.”

John let that sink in because they meant so very much in a short about of words. Did she mean—? He wasn’t positive, but it almost sounded like she was saying that she actually thought about marrying him. Because she didn’t say “ _I never in a million years thought I would be_ marrying _you_ ” she said _“getting a divorce from you_.” That was two completely separate things. Did she actually imagine one day, the two of them—

Before John could think clearly, he reached over and kissed her. He almost panicked when she did nothing in return, and he was about to pull back when she suddenly grabbed the back of his head and moved her lips under his. Suddenly he was clearly in heaven and she was moaning and this was better than any fantasy he could come up with. This was real. She was real. It was actually happening, and John’s heart pounded with excitement.

It could have been hours, days, months later when John pulled back, a smirk growing on his face. It grew bigger when he noticed that she had the same exact look.

“Hi,” he said, knowing that they definitely crossed a line, and was shocked to noticed that he didn’t care in the slightest.

“Hello,” she grinned back, placing her arms loosely around his neck. “That’s new.”

“Maybe not. Maybe we did it last night.”

She pursed her lips. “I’m positive that if you kissed me last night, I would have remembered it.” She leaned her forehead against his. “Mainly because I had been dreaming about doing that since I was fourteen.”

He pulled back and looked at her through stunned eyes. “What?”

“Oh come off it,” she replied, almost rolling her eyes, “You knew.” After a moment her smirked faded as she asked, “Didn’t you?”

“No! I mean, I never saw anything—I…you…I had a crush on you since I was fifteen!”

“No way. Are you taking a mickey?”

“Absolutely not. You could ask Donna. I’ve—I’ve wanted to ask you out for the longest time.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I was afraid that you would say no.”

“To you? Never.” She kissed him quickly on the lips and it was something that John could very quickly get used to. “I would have shot straight to the moon if you asked me.”

“Really?”

“Completely.”

“So we wasted all of this time—”

“Thinking the other one wasn’t interested romantically.” Rose sighed. “Are we idiots or what?”

“Definitely idiots.” He kissed her again, because he could. When they pulled back, he gave a gentle smack of his lips as he said, “We do have a problem though.”

Rose’s eyebrows knitted together before she opened her eyes wide. “Oh, right. Being married.”

“Yeah. I mean, I know that we talked about a divorce, but maybe…”

“No,” she said pulling back a bit. John instantly missed her warmth. “We should get a divorce. Is that how we want to get married? By mistake?”

“Yeah, no, you’re right,” he agreed. “Mistake.” He cleared his throat as he sat back on the bed. “So, what do we have to do?”

She sighed before turning back to the computer. “Hold on. I got a bit, um, distracted before.” Her grin made it clear that she liked her distraction very much, and it took more strength than he would think to hold back his own grin.

Clearing her throat, she read out the procedure. They had to go to the local court house and simply go over to the Marriage/Divorce section. From there, everything will be sorted out.

It wasn’t until later, when John was lying on the bed and Rose came out of the bathroom that he bolted upright, realizing something.

“When we woke up this morning,” he said as Rose put the license in her purse, “we were both fully dressed.”

Rose stopped her actions and looked over at John. “We were, weren’t we? That’s weird, though. Because that would mean…”

“That means that we…I mean, we didn’t… _do_ anything last night.” For God’s sake, this woman was his _wife_ and he couldn’t even say the word “sex” in front of her.

Thinking back, Rose said, “You’re right. I mean, I didn’t feel…anything, you know. If we did, then I would have felt…uncomfortable, right?”

John knew this was not the moment to be egotistical and he remained on point. “You’re right. If we did do something last night, I would have…I would have known straight away.”

“So, the night of our wedding and we...didn’t commemorate it or anything?”

“No, I guess not.”

Rose slowly nodded before asking, “How drunk were we?”

“Positively smashed.” John sat up before saying, “Let’s get this over with.”

 

**~*~**

 

John and Rose ran up the stairs of the courthouse, wanting more to get this over with than anything else. For John, it would need to be like pulling off a band-aid. Hurt at first before the pain just goes away completely. Because while he couldn’t quite believe that he actually married Rose Tyler, he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that he was now divorcing her. But they made their agreement. Neither of them were ready for marriage. It was a drunken mistake. They should just get the divorce and move on.

Only he knew it would be easier said than done.

They walk up to the Marriage/Divorce division, and greeted the woman behind the counter. They calmly explain their situation (“Drunken mistake” “Never meant to happen” “Married less than 24 hours”) before the woman—named Martha—handed them a clipboard and simply told them to fill out the information. She must have handled situations like this more than once.

They sat down on the hard benches, John holding the clipboard on his lap. He was filling out his information, and before he fully realized it, he almost filled out Rose’s information as well. Rose looked stunned when she noticed, but otherwise said nothing. Though the smirk on her face said plenty.

Once it’s all filled out, both of them go up to the counter and handed it over. Martha typed everything they wrote into the computer when John asked, “How long is this going to take?”

“A few minutes,” she answered, not looking up from the screen.

“No, I meant the…divorce.”

“A couple of weeks.”

“Do we need to be here? Because we’re not from around here.”

“I could have guessed from the accents,” she replied with a bit of a smirk. She looked up as she continued, “No, you don’t have to be here. Unless you’re going to sue each other for alimony or child support. Are you?”

“For a marriage lasting less than one day?” Rose asked, eyebrows raised. “No.”

Martha looked at the rings. “I figured as much.” She started typing again.

John tapped his fingers on the counter, trying to look calm, though he was sure he was failing miserably. Finally he said, “I have better taste.”

“John,” Rose tutted.  

“What? I do. I don’t…I wouldn’t have picked out these rings. You know, if I was sober.”

“John, she doesn’t care,” Rose whispered, wrapping her hand around his arm.

It was when she did things like that that made him forget why exactly they were getting a divorce.

Lightly shaking his head, he said, “I just want to be clear.”

“Crystal,” Martha replied, looking up from the screen. “I need to see your marriage license, please.”

Rose handed it over. Martha looked down at it for a second before looking up at them. She did this two more times before saying, “Excuse me for a minute.” She then went into a back room where she closed the door.

“Wonder what that was about,” Rose muttered, letting go of John’s arm, but placing her head on his shoulder.

“Don’t know. If it was important, surely she would have told us.”

“Yeah, she would have.” Rose yawned before saying, “God, I’m exhausted. Who knew getting married and then getting divorced would be so tiring?”

“Glad I could amuse you.”

Picking her head up, Rose turned to look at him. “You know I’m just teasing you, right? I know this is a serious matter.”

“Rose, we made a mistake. We’re fixing it best that we can. It’s just…” He shook his head. “I meant what I said before. You deserve the best.”

“And so do you.”

“Not like this.”

“No,” she said with a sigh. “Not like this.”

Before he could say or do anything, Martha came back. “Okay,” she said, holding two pieces of paper. “We have a bit of a situation.”

“Oh?” John asked, finally being able to tear his eyes away from Rose.

“Yes. _This_ is your marriage license,” she said, holding up the paper. “ _This_ is the official marriage certificate of Nevada state.” She held up another paper. “I’m sorry, but the license you have is a fraud. You two are not actually married.”


	3. Chapter 3

Rose and John had the same reaction.

“ _What_?!”

Martha nodded slowly and said, “This license,”—pointing to their license—“is a complete fake. The Reverend who signed it is someone who doesn’t exist. However, I have seen this before. A couple get into a cab and tell the cabbie that they want to get married somewhere, anywhere. The cabbie say he knows a guy who will do it for cheap. The couple, too drunk to take notice anything amiss, agree and wham-bam, they are ‘married.’” She put air quotes around the word ‘married.’ “They have the same reaction as you two did, completely freak out before realizing it was actually nothing.” She pointedly looked down at their joined hands. “And this was nothing, right? Just a mistake?”

Still in shock, John tried to slowly wrap his head around the fact that he was _not_ married to Rose, and never was. “So, this is…nothing. Just…a prank.”

Martha nodded. “This is a good thing, yeah?”

Rose slowly nodded. “Yeah, good thing.”

Martha slid their fake license back to them. “I’m sorry that you were duped. But I have to say…You two seemed the most shocked out of all the people this has happened to. After all, you were going for a divorce. Shouldn’t this have been the best answer to your problem?”

And there it was. The thought that was driving John insane. Because she was right. This was the perfect answer to their predicament. The fact that they were not actually married made this whole situation so much easier. Now there was no problem. Everything was free and clear.

So why did John’s heart hurt all the more?

Was it embarrassment? That they should have caught on to this sooner? After all, they were both somewhat distracted when Rose was looking up information on the license. But she admitted that she had a crush on him, and there was kissing, and—could anyone blame John for not reading the fine-print?

Rose took the piece of paper off the counter before blindly putting it in her purse. “Thank you,” she said softly, before turning around and heading towards the door.

Neither John nor Rose said a word as they got into a cab and headed back to the hotel. Thankfully John didn’t need to think about roads and directions because his mind refused to think of anything else but the sad look in Rose’s eyes. They didn’t touch the entire time, and it drove him even more insane because he wanted to reach out and hold her hand so badly it hurt. But this was confusing and embarrassing and –

Why it bothered him so much, he couldn’t place. And he didn’t know what to say to Rose to make her feel better. He knew in time they would laugh over this, a joke that would stay between them for the rest of their lives, but right now it wasn’t funny. Not in the slightest.

When they arrived at the hotel, John followed Rose to the front desk as she asked for another room. He stood silently next to her on the lift up to his room and didn’t say a word as he opened his door for her so she could gather all of her stuff. He didn’t say anything as they took the lift up another floor and went to her room, where she opened the door and took her bag from him. She barely looked at him as she thanked him and closed the door with a simple click. John made no noise as he went back down to his room, opened the door, and sat down on the bed.

Everything that had happened raced through his mind and not one thing of it made sense. He didn’t actually marry Rose. This was good. He didn’t have to worry about his mother finding out, or Donna for that matter. He wouldn’t have to face the wrath that was Jackie Tyler. He didn’t have to worry about any of that.

So why didn’t he feel any better?

Because the answer was right there. It had been sitting there, just waiting to be noticed. And once it was, John knew he could never go back. But he didn’t want to go back. That made all the difference. Once he acknowledged it, he was done.

It was with that courage that he got up off the bed and went to the door. He walked purposely to the lift, and when that didn’t come fast enough, he found the stairs and ran up them, his blood racing, his heart pounding. His hands started to sweat when he saw her door, but he couldn’t turn back now. He didn’t want to.

He pounded on the door and stood there shifting his feet, not sure he if wanted to run away or not when the door opened. Rose’s eyes were red-rimmed and she sniffed, though her eyebrows knitted in confusion.

“John? What—?”

“I’m in love with you,” he quickly said before his courage deserted him. He felt so much lighter once the words were said, and though Rose no longer looked confused, her face barely changed. John kept talking, however. “I have been for a long time. I don’t—I don’t know what it feels like to not be in love with you. And I thought us getting married was a mistake, but not because I don’t want to marry you, but because it shouldn’t have happened like that. I have wanted to ask you out for so long, but I—I just couldn’t. And now we’re not married, and that’s fine because…because I want to woo you, Rose Tyler. I want to buy you flowers and make a bad day a good one and play stupid tricks on each other and make jokes about people and I just want to be with you. And I might be crazy and I know that this is all completely confusing, but I do want to marry you. But you’re my best friend and I didn’t want to risk losing that because you mean the world to me. But if you…if we were together, I would spend the rest of my life trying to make you smile. Because your smile is beautiful and infectious and I just—I love it. I love your smile, your hair, your brains. And I love you, Rose Tyler.”

He took a breath.

Time stopped.

His heart sank.

She said nothing.

He wondered if he came on too strong. He did, didn’t he? But he couldn’t help it. He had those feelings locked away in a chest in his heart, and when he found that they weren’t actually married…instead of feeling relieved, he was crestfallen. But maybe he should have started by asking her out. Maybe he should not have said anything past “ _I’m in love with you_.” Maybe he shouldn’t have come down, period.

Just when he was about to apologize—not for saying he was in love with her, but maybe for just springing it up on her—was when Rose pulled him by his lapels and kissed him full on the lips. He instantly wrapped his arms around her waist as her hands went up to his neck. They played with his hair a bit, and John didn’t know what to focus on, her hands or her lips. Both were amazing, astounding, _molto bene_!

She pulled back, both trying to catch their breath, as she said, “I love you too, John Noble.” Leaning her forehead against his, she closed her eyes and whispered, “I love you, John. So very much. And not marrying you crushed me more than I thought possible. Because even though we were going for a divorce, I loved the thought of being your wife.”

The smile that broke across his face hurt his cheeks, but he didn’t have time to think of anything else besides Rose. Rose Tyler was in his arms telling him that she’s in love with him and wanted to be with him forever and—

And she started pulling him into her room and he was stumbling a bit, but quickly caught on to what she was doing, and this time when the door closed, it was because both of them kicked it with their feet.

 

~*~

 

            John had never been so comfortable in his entire life. Lying on his back, looking up at the tiled ceiling, John slowly played with Rose’s hair. She was lying half across him, her head on his chest, and she was taking deep breaths.

“That was _amazing_.”

“Thank you.”

She looked up at him and rested her chin on his shoulder. It hurt, but he didn’t say anything. “Shut up.”

“You were amazing too.”

She chuckled before going back to her original position. “Thanks.”

“Tell me, why haven’t we ever done that before.”

“Because we’re idiots.”

“Ah, right.”

They were silent for a while before Rose asked, “Should we tell them?”

“Jack and Donna?”

“Yeah.”

“Not now. I like…I like that it’s just us, you know.”

“Well, I wasn’t exactly going to call them and invite them into the bed with us.”

“First of all, ew. That is my sister we are talking about. And second of all, _ew_!”

Rose laughed and John couldn’t help but copy it. Her laughter really was infectious. “I didn’t mean it that way, you pervert.”

“We’ll tell them. I think the smile on my face will give it away instantly.”

Rose looked up at him again. “You do have a brilliant smile.”

“I thank you. And because of you, Rose Tyler, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop.”

Rose smiled. “Where have you been all my life?”

“Waiting right here for you.”

Rose leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. When she pulled back, she said, “I swear, we are the biggest idiots in the whole world.”

“We might be, yeah?”

“I say we make it up.”

“And how do we do that?”

Rose put her hand on his chest before going down under the blanket. “I have a few ideas.”

He gasped before giving a wicked smile. “Rose Tyler, I like the way you think.”

 

~*~

 

“Feeling better?”

John looked over at Jack, who was sitting at the next slot machine. They both had a cup filled with quarters and had barely any luck.

“What? Oh, oh, yeah. Yeah, I feel great now, thanks.”

“Have you seen Rose lately? I know Donna was looking for her.”

John’s hand slipped as it went towards the bar. Quickly righting himself, he said, “Yeah, I saw her earlier.” _All of her_. “She was good.” _Better than good! Bloody fantastic!_

“Good. I’m glad we’re able to spend this time together, right? It seems like we are all going different ways.”

John resisted the urge to check his mobile that just went off. He really didn’t want to be down here with Jack, but Rose said they should go out and enjoy the sights. Frankly, he wanted to enjoy the sights with her, but since they decided to keep their new relationship a secret—for now—they had to go off without the other one. Something that was bothering John a lot more than he expected.

Jack kept talking about how great America is, and how there are so many things he wants to show John, Rose, and Donna and they should just rent a car and drive cross country. However, John barely heard a word. He gave in to his temptation of looking at his phone and his heart sped up when he saw a text from Rose.

 

**Found Donna. Miss you though. :( Donna’s good company, but I want to be with you.**

 

The smile on John’s face was bordering on idiotic, as he typed back:

 

**I know exactly how you feel. Would it be wrong to dump them and meet up somewhere...alone.**

 

John put his phone back in his pocket as he continued playing. Nothing. In terms of money, luck was not on his side. However, since he was now in a relationship with Rose…

His phone buzzed and he quickly got it out.

 

**Give me 30 minutes.**

Not a second later, another text popped up.

 

**Your room.**

 

~*~

 

“How did you get away from Donna?” John asked in between kisses. It was a miracle that she even understood him.

“Headache,” Rose answered simply, before unbuttoning his shirt. She was almost at the bottom, but she was taking too long and John really missed her kisses.

Ripping the shirt open the rest of the way—making the few buttons pop off and go flying in different directions—John took off his shirt before grabbing Rose lightly by the neck and kissing her. This was quickly becoming his favorite pastime and he loved it.

“What about Jack?” Rose asked as she pulled back and took off her shirt.

John was momentarily distracted and asked, “Who?” Giving a slight shake of his head, he said, “Oh, Jack. Yeah, told him I was still tired. He didn’t seem to notice. I think he was getting distracted.” John started working on her pants.

“I swear, they’re going to notice.”

“But they haven’t yet.” Gone were his sneakers and socks.

“No…but…Why are we talking about this?” Her pants hit the floor.

“I have no idea,” he said as he took her and gently they fell onto the bed.


	4. Chapter 4

“I can’t believe we are leaving tomorrow,” Donna said as she and Rose walked around the boutique store the next morning. The dresses were completely out of their price range, but sometimes it was just nice to look.

“Me neither. Seems like…” Rose was going to hint about her budding relationship with John, but decided against it. They said there were going to keep it a secret until they got back to London. There they were going to decide what to do next. For now…it was so exhilarating to Rose, being with him. It was like being home, if that made any sense. They just seemed to fit perfectly together, in ways she never was with another man. Of course, though, she knew that if anyone was her perfect match, it would be John. When she’s with him, it’s like…it’s like the pieces of the puzzle finally have fallen into place. Now she understands every damn love song, why people write musicals. If she was the type of person, she’d be humming _“So This is Love”_ as she walked around the store.

“Seems like what?”

Donna’s voice started her out of her daydream. “Hmm? Oh. It seems like we just got here.”

Donna nodded. “Yeah, it does, doesn’t it? Still, it’s been fun. Lots of memories. Well, some at least. I’m not too clear on others.”

“Me neither,” Rose said, gently touching some of the dresses. One dress, however, caught her eye. It was gorgeous. It was an off-white lace with a sweetheart neckline and reached just about her knees. There was a deep blue ribbon that went around the waist, and instead of making it look cheap, it made it look elegant.

“Oh, that is a beauty,” Donna said, looking at the dress in Rose’s hands.

“It is, isn’t it? I love it.” She checked the price. She made a noise in between her teeth, like she just got hurt. “The price, I don’t love as much.”

Donna came over to look. “No dress should cost that much, looking at how little material they used.” She touched it gently. “Still, it is beautiful.”

“I couldn’t.” Oh, but Rose did. The look on John’s face when he sees her wearing this would be the best reward for blowing her paycheck on a dress. Rose was tempted, so sorely tempted, even though she had no clue what she could wear it too.

“Rose, do you want this?”

“Oh, very much.”

“Then get it. What’s the point on being on vacation if you don’t treat yourself every once in a while?”

“But--?”

 “No buts. Get the dress. I’m sure that when you wear it, you’ll get the attention of every single person in the room. Mainly because they’ll either want you or want to be you. Either way, it’s a good reason to buy the dress.”

Donna didn’t have to convince her any harder. Rose found her size and walked towards the fitting room.

It fit her perfectly.

 

~*~

 

“What in hell is taking those women so long?”

John looked up at Jack, as he lightly touched some of the souvenirs around the shop. They weren’t too far from the hotel, yet they sold every cliché crap you would ever need. And it wasn’t cheap crap, either. Some of this stuff was expensive.

Still, John was debating actually buying something, just to remind himself of this vacation when he was back at work. Though he highly doubted he would _ever_ forget this vacation. Just thinking about Rose made John smile, and Jack couldn’t help but notice.

“What’s gotten you in such a chipper mood?”

John tried to lose the grin, but he knew he was failing. Miserably. “Nothing.” 

“Oh, come on. Something. Did you win something?”

“No. Not—not exactly.”

“We’re leaving tomorrow and you’ve got a stupid grin. What’s up?”

“Nothing, Jack. Honestly. Can’t I just smile?”

“It’s not a ‘just smile.’ It’s…oh, John, if I didn’t know better,  I’d say that it is a smitten smile.”

Walking away from Jack, John huffed. “I am not smitten.” Oh, he was terribly smitten and he loved it.

“Yes you are. Did you meet someone? Where? Who? Have I met her?”

Stopping and turning towards Jack, John said, “Jack, it’s nothing. Honestly. There is nothing—” Something over Jack’s shoulder caught his eye.

“Jack!” someone towards the door yelled, both surprised and delighted.

“Ianto!” Patting John on the shoulder, Jack said distractedly, “I’ll be back in a sec” before walking over to the other gentleman.

Not that John really noticed. His eyes were focused on the piece of paper hanging on the wall. There, for only five American dollars, you could have your very own marriage license. It was the exact one that was sitting in his hotel room, only this was on sale now. He took it down and just stared at it. There it was, the signature of Reverend Rassilon, whoever that was. John couldn’t believe that he had never noticed these before.

He was tempted to text it to Rose, when Jack called out. “John, come meet my new friend!”

John knew what that meant. Years ago, back when they first met, Jack came out to John and told him he was pansexual, and asked if John was alright with that. John simply stated that as long as he didn’t have to see or hear anything in the middle of the night, yeah, he was fine. But he also quickly learned that when they were in study groups together or went out to parties, if Jack introduced someone as ‘my new friend’ it meant he was interested in them. John wasn’t even sure if Jack realized he was doing that, though John picked up on it quickly.

“John, meet Ianto Jones. Ianto, this is my best friend John. John, did you know Ianto is also visiting from London? What are the odds?”

John smiled and internally took a sigh of relief. Jack wasn’t going to question him any more on the ‘smitten smile’ and for that John was grateful.

Though it looked like Jack had his own ‘smitten smile.’

 

~*~

 

It was mid-afternoon before Rose and John were able to meet up again. Donna had said something to Rose about meeting in her room, but thinking quick, Rose said it was a bad idea, it was a complete mess, and claimed that she had to go clean it up in order to get ready to leave. And since Jack was so wrapped up in Ianto—figuratively, not literally—John was able to get a clean getaway. 

They were lying in bed, taking deep breaths as their bodies cooled down—this time, both figuratively and literally.

“We are so good,” Rose said with a grin.

“We really are.”

“We’re gonna keep…I mean, we’re going to be together in London too, yeah?”

He looked down at her and hated that her eyes looked questioning back up at him. “Together,” he simply said.

She laid her head back on his chest. “I don’t ever want to move from this spot.”

“It is perfect.”

“And to think, that if we didn’t get faked married, we never would have said anything to each other in the first place.”

“I know!” he said, shifting a bit and wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He was playing with some of her hair as he said, “It’s almost like we should thank alcohol for giving us the courage to do what we always wanted.”

“You always wanted to fake marry me?” she asked with a teasing grin.

“No,” he answered, laughing. “No, of course not.”

“When did you realize? That you were in love with me?”

He used his hand not wrapped around Rose to pull gently on his ear. “In love? Oh, I think I was about seventeen or so. I mean, I had a crush on you for a longest time. I realized it when I was a fifteen or so, but it was after that that I was falling. But I think I realized it was love one night when…I don’t remember what happened, but for some reason you were sleeping over. I can’t remember if I invited you or if Donna did or whatever, but one night you were sleeping over and we decided to watch a movie together. Do you remember this?”

“Kind of. Keep talking.”

“Anyway, we decided to watch some movie that I can’t remember, but all I remember was you screaming. Oh, I thought Mum was going to come into the living room and scream at you, you were so loud!” They both chuckled before he continued. “Anyway, I remember the popcorn bowl went flying, popcorn landing everywhere—Mum was not happy about _that_ —and you dove under the blanket. I remember Donna laughing at you, and I poked at the blanket and said something like ‘Don’t worry, Rose, I’ll save you,’ you know, something really corny like that, and you…Your head popped out of the blanket and you looked up at me with those damn brown eyes and asked, ‘Always?’ And I…I remember just sitting there, stunned, because I wanted to answer, ‘Yes.’ In that moment I realized I wanted to protect you, forever and always, and I freaked out, because there I was, seventeen-years-old, not even a man yet, and…I was head over heels in love with my best friend.”

“I remember that,” Rose said softly, playing with the small amount of hair on his chest. “I don’t remember what we were watching, but I was truly scared. And you never gave a response. Your mum did come in at that moment and start yelling at the mess. But I remember that night, yes.”

“And what about you? When did you realize you fell for me?”

“Oh, it was slightly after that. At prom.”

“ _Prom_?! Oh, God, Rose, I looked horrible!”

She shook her head. “Believe me, you did not. I remember though that we didn’t even go together.”

“That’s right,” he said, the memory coming back to him. “You went with Mickey the Idiot—”

“And you went with Ridiculous Reinette.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot about her. Anyway, that was a horrible night.”

“I remember it being horrible for probably a different reason than you.”

“No, probably not. But continue.”

“Right, so there I was, wearing a horribly poofy pink dress—”

“It was not poofy!”

“It was.”

“It was not.”

“Agree to disagree, hmm?” When he agreed, she continued. “Anyway, I was wearing this horribly pink dress and I thought I looked like a sugar plum or something, and there I see Ridiculous Reinette with her absolutely gorgeous gown on, and I think this night can’t get any worse, yeah?

“Wrong. Because you come out. And you were wearing a tuxedo. And you…I had never seen you wear anything that fancy before, and that…it was quite a sight.”

“Really?”

“Oh yes. You had no idea how many times I had fantasized about taking you away from Reinette all evening and snogging you in the corner of the room.”

“Believe me when I tell you, I would have gone with you gladly and been so very pleased to do so. I don’t think words could express how much I would have loved to have done that. But see, I remember it differently.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yes. I remember that you looked sensational in that dress and that Mickey the Idiot could not keep his hands off of you, and if he touched you one more time, I might have had to strange him with his tie. And I barely remember what Reinette said to me all evening, which caused a lot of friction afterwards.”

“I can safely say that we are very much the definitions of idiots.”

John chuckled. “Yeah, we are. We wasted a lot of time just because we didn’t actually acknowledge what was in front of us the whole time.”

Rose snuggled closer. “True.”

As Rose was drifting off to sleep, John’s mind was drifting towards what had happened in the past twenty-four hours. He married Rose, but then he didn’t actually marry her. They were duped by some man who wanted a few extra bucks and saw two very drunk people.

From it, though, Rose and John realized their true feelings for each other and discovered that they both feel very deeply about the other. And they wasted so much time from not saying anything, that John decided waiting any longer would be ridiculous.  

“Rose,” he softly said, shaking her. “Rose, wake up.”

“I’m up. I didn’t go to sleep.”  Since she was rubbing her eyes, John figured she did actually doze off. “What’s the matter?”

“I’ve been thinking…” John shifted, which made Rose sit up. He sat up too, and taking the covers to make sure they were covering him, turned to face her. “Rose, we’ve been saying how we are idiots and numpties for not seeing what was in front of us the whole time. That we…that we ignored what was there because we didn’t want to cause waves or problems or whatever. But Rose,” he took her hand, “if this situation taught me anything, it’s that I love you. I will love you, no matter, and for me, it will always be you. You’re it. I don’t want to keep looking, haven’t for years, because you’re the one.”

“John,” Rose said softly, “what are you trying to say?”

He cleared his throat. “Rose, I love you. And I will continue to love you, no matter what we might face.” Gathering his courage, John took both of her hands in his and asked, “Rose Tyler, will you marry me?”


	5. Chapter 5

“John, I—What—Are you _serious_?”

“Yes.”

Rose shook her head before getting out of bed. She grabbed the first article of clothing she got her hands on—his oxford shirt—and put it on her, covering herself up.

“Why—Why are you putting clothes on?” John asked, suddenly nervous.

“Because I’m not making a huge decision like this while naked!”

“But Rose—” John started to say as he scooted towards the edge of the bed.

She turned around and held her hand up, signaling for him to stop talking. “John, the past twenty-four hours have been like some kind of dream, and I just…” She looked down and shook her head. “John, you’re probably just on at estrogen high right now, and not thinking clearly.”

“No!” He stood up and grabbed for his boxer shorts. As he put them on he said, “I’ve never been more clear in my life! Rose, it’s perfect!”

“To get married on a whim? Somehow that’s not comforting for me.”

“Not a whim. I know what I’m talking about.”

“To get married in Las Vegas…sounds like a whim to me.”

“Rose…”

“John, I love you too. Please don’t think that I don’t. I love more than I ever thought possible and the idea of spending the rest of my life with you…That’s a fairy tale. But for you to propose, after everything we just went through –”

“But it’s because of everything we just went through that I want to marry you. Rose, it made me see how very much I want you in my life, as my wife! To say you’re my girlfriend, it sounds like I should pass you a note before History.”

“So you want to get married so you know how to introduce me?”

“No! Yes! No, wait a minute. Rose, I proposed because I want to get married. I want to spend my life with you.”

“John, we _just_ got into a relationship –”

“No we didn’t,” he answered calmly.

“Yes, we did!” she said, not as calmly. “How could you…? John, twenty-four hours ago you came into my room and proclaimed your love for me. That was the start of our relationship!”

“That was the moment I _told_ you how I felt, but I knew about these feelings for _years._ We are not two people who just _met_ , we _know_ each other. Rose, I know everything about you, and vice versa! I’ve watched in awe when you’re at your best, and I held you when you were at your worst. We were in a relationship before we consciously acknowledge it. Why do you think I haven’t been out on a date in years? It’s not because I was training to be a priest, it’s because I’ve been _waiting_! For _you_! And now that that moment has come, I just want to grab onto with both hands.”

Rose stood there, silent, trying to process everything he just said. John took deep breaths, calming down his heart, but also trying to figure out what Rose was thinking. Usually she was like an open book to him, but right now her face was a complete blank and it drove him nuts.

He was just about to say something, anything when she said softly, “John, I’ve been in love with you for so long, I don’t know a life where I _don’t_ love you. And I want to commit myself to you, because I feel exactly like you do. But…John, think about this _logically_. To marry each other is a huge step. And _that’s_ what I mean about the start of our relationship. We just took the step, becoming intimate with each other, so recently that I don’t…” She took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to hate me in years to come because you thought we _had_ to get married now.”

John walked up to her and pulled her into a hug. “No. Never. I would never think that. I know that.”

“How?”

“I just do. I know that we will always love and stand by each other just like I know the sun is going to set in the west. It’s just…It’s a part of life. And nothing anyone says or does will change my mind.”

“John, there are things we should talk about before we agree to this.”

He pulled back and looked down at her.

“Like what?”

“Kids. Do you want?”

“Right now?”

She gave him a look.

“Not right away,” he continued, “but yeah. I do.”

“How many?”

He shrugged. “Two. Three. Enough to feel like a family.”

“About about money?”

“What about it?”

“Well, how we going to support this family?”

He pulled back all the way and sat down on the bed. “You really are bringing out the big guns, aren’t you?”

“John, I want to go into this with eyes wide open. And I don’t not want to discuss this. It’s very important.”

“No, it is. You’re right, I just…Money. Well, I’m in the computer industry and you’re a teacher. Sounds like two stable jobs.”

“What if you work long hours?”

“I’ll cut back.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Why are you making complications where there might never be any? I might work long hours, yes, but I might not. Or it could happen time-to-time. Don’t fret about things that haven’t happened yet.”

She gave a small grin. The first one since he asked. “Okay. Religion?”

“I’ve heard it’s nice.”

“John…”

“What? Rose, I don’t believe in that kind of stuff, you know that.”

“Is that how we’re going to raise our kids? Not believing in anything?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You said—”

“I said I don’t believe in that kind of stuff. I believe in something.”

“What?”

He smiled. “You.”

She blushed.

“How about, they can believe in whatever they want to believe, hmm? How does that sound?”

“Good. That sounds good.”

She sat down on the bed and took a deep breath. When she looked up at him, John swore that time stopped. Then she smiled.

“Ask me again.”

“Rose—”

“Correctly,” she said, pointing to the ground.

John grinned as he knelt down in front of her. “Rose Tyler, you make me happier than I ever thought possible, and I want to spend the rest of my life making you just as happy. Will you marry me?”

A tear came down Rose’s cheek and she nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, John Noble, I will marry you!”

 

~*~

 

Since they were leaving the next day, John and Rose knew that if they wanted to get married in Vegas, they had to move quickly. Rose went back to her room to change, while John stayed in his room to change into a suit. He brought one with him—not an especially nice one, but it was brown pinstripes, and it was just as good. When he was finished, he went onto the computer to see if there had to be any work blood work or something done for them to get married there—there wasn’t, but he kind of figured that.

When he found a local jewelry store via the computer, he quickly wrote down the address before putting it in his pocket and grabbing his phone, room key, and wallet before running off towards Rose’s room.

He knocked on the door and he heard Rose yell, “Don’t look!” before opening the door. He covered his eyes, but felt her hand on his arm before yanking him into the room. Before he could lower his hand, the bathroom door slammed shut.

Rose was taking forever in the bathroom, and John kept looking at his watch. It was getting late, and he wanted to actually spend the night with Rose before having to wake up early to catch their flight.

“Rose, are you almost ready?”

“Just a mo!”

John sighed before laying down on the bed. Finally, the door opened and she walked out.

“Oh my—” John stood up, and all words left him. There was his fiancé, standing there wearing a beautiful cream colored dress with a dark blue ribbon around the waist. She quickly put her hair in curls and had light make-up on.

“Rose, you look beautiful.”

“Thank you. I just happened to get this dress today, actually. Had no idea what I was going to wear it to, but…” She shrugged and stopped talking. Nothing more had to be said.

They continued looking at each other before John looked at his watch again. “We gotta go!” Rose quickly gathered her belongings and followed him out of the room.

 

~*~

 

The jewelry shop John found online wasn’t too far from their hotel, and actually had pretty decent rings. In fact, they were gorgeous. Rose didn’t know which one to pick, and though John insisted that money wasn’t an issue, she still wanted to go with something nice but a little bit…less expensive. After all, these were rings they were both going to wear the rest of their lives. So, no she didn’t want expensive, but she didn’t want cheap either. And when she explained what she was looking for, John agreed wholeheartedly before suggesting a pair he found. They were simple, not too bad in price, and were actually exactly what Rose was looking for.

They decided to wait on her engagement ring, until they could find something she truly wanted, since nothing there was grabbing at her.

When they were finished there, they looked for a chapel. They wanted something that wasn’t too cheesy and Vegas-y. When they finally found one, it was a nice building, almost looking like a small chapel. It didn’t look all that bad, really.  

“Are you sure?” she asked, one last time.

“Definitely.” He unclicked his seat belt and got out.

It was only ten minutes later that they legally became Mr. and Mrs. John Noble. 

 

~*~

 

John woke up to a pounding noise. Convinced that the noise was coming from inside his head, he once again swore off any forms of alcohol before he remembered that he didn’t have anything to drink the night before. Well, except a glass of champagne when they got back to room, but they certainly didn’t finish off the bottle.

Did they?

No, they didn’t. Because neither one of them wanted to loosen their abilities due to any alcohol, so they both had one glass before falling into bed. As husband and wife. Just the thought made John want to give a manly giggle.

“Room service!” someone called from the hallway.

John groaned and reached over to feel nothing but cold sheets next to him. Finally opening his eyes, he saw Rose wearing a hotel robe as she went to answer the door.

“Yes, thank you. You can put it right over there. Thank you.”

John rubbed his eyes as the man wheeled in a small cart with two tins covering food and a pitcher of orange juice on it. Rose handed the man a tip as he left.

When the door was closed, John grabbed the sheet to wrap around his waist as he walked over to the cart.

“And what is this, Mrs. Noble?” he asked, picking up a tin and seeing two waffles and four pieces of bacon on the plate.

Rose came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Why, I believe I was bringing you breakfast in bed, Mr. Noble. But I see you were bringing the bed with you.”

Grabbing a piece of bacon, he broke a piece with his teeth before turning around and feeding her the other half. When he gulped down his food, he said, “I think I can be persuaded to get back into bed. What time is it anyway?”

“Five.”

“In the morning?”

She nodded. “We’re meeting Jack and Donna for breakfast in a couple of hours. I was starving when I woke up, so I ordered us some food to tide us over. We’re gonna tell them there, right?”

“Of course.” He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “There is no way I can keep this a secret.”

“Hmm, you do have a terrible poker face,” Rose said softly, her hands going up towards his hair.

“Horrible,” he muttered against her lips. He pulled back a moment later and said, “I thought we were going back to bed.”

Rose leaned down and pulled off the sheet. “Oh, you bet we are.”

 

~*~

 

This was the part that John was dreading the most: telling his sister.

Donna was a wonderful woman, and she had a heart of gold, but she wasn’t going to understand why they got married so quickly. Hell, from her perspective, they weren’t even _dating_ , and now they were _married_. John could see how angry his sister would be at him; he pictured screaming, insult-calling, accusations made, and a very stressful ten-hour flight.

What he wasn’t expecting—but what actually happened—was Donna _laughing_.

“Married?!” she said joyously, like this was the best news she ever heard.

 They were sitting in the same restaurant they had lunch in the other day, only instead of thinking they drunk got married, John and Rose were legally married. They were husband and wife. It was actually happening.

And it seemed no one was happier than Jack and Donna.

“Man, that’s great!” Jack said, slapping John on the back.

“Oh, this is wonderful! You two just decided to get married here?”

Rose grabbed John’s hand and smiled proudly. “Yeah. We talked about it, and we just decided that it…it was going to happen eventually, yeah? So why not start now?”

“That’s wonderful,” Donna said again, a smiling beaming off of her face. “I want to hear all about it. Do you have pictures?”

John pulled out his phone and showed them the pictures that the witness took yesterday. Donna made a happy noise from the back of her throat before showing the camera to Jack. “Oh, Jack, look at these. They’re lovely. And you went to a chapel?”

“Yeah. Wasn’t too cheesy, but it was…It was just us, and that made it perfect,” John said, smiling sweetly at his wife.

“This is wonderful. I’m so happy for the two of you!” Jack commented, a smile on his face.

John put his left hand over Rose’s and squeezed. “Thank you so much.”

“Oh, and is this the justice of the peace?”

The smile fell from Jack’s face. “Donna,” Jack said lowly.

“Yeah,” Rose said, leaning over to look at the picture. “Yeah, he was such a nice man.”

“Looks like it.”

“Donna,” Jack said again, this time his voice getting a hint of panic in it.

“And the dress! Oh, Rose, you sly thing! You told me you had no idea what you would wear it to!”

“I didn’t. I mean, at the time, I had no idea. And then John proposed and I needed something quickly and… and I…it was the perfect dress.”

“Donna,” Jack’s voice was getting higher.  

Snapping her head in his direction, Donna snarkly asked, “What?”

“Look at their _rings_.”

Donna looked at John’s left hand before she quickly whipped her eyes to Rose’s. She leaned over and grabbed John’s hand tightly. “What the bloody hell…?” Looking up at them, she looked both confused and angry as hell. “Are you two _married_?”

John cocked his head to the side. “Where have you been the past few minutes? That’s what you’re telling you.”

“I—You— _What did you two do?_ ” Donna stood up, staring at her brother and friend like she had never seen them before.

“We got married, Donna,” Rose said, before wrapping her arm around John’s. “You saw the pictures. We’re telling you how it happened.”

“Yes, but I thought—I thought you were _joking_!” Donna looked over at Jack, who looked just as stunned. She stuttered for a few more minutes before looking back at John and Rose. As she sat back down, she whispered, “You weren’t supposed to get _married_!”

Rose leaned forward and John’s eyebrows knitted together. “What do you mean we weren’t suppose to? What are you talking about?”

Instead of answering, Jack groaned and Donna held her head in her hands. “Oh God,” she muttered to the table. “Oh God, oh God, oh God.”

John and Rose looked at each other. Neither had a clue what was going on. “Donna,” Rose said, reaching out, “What—?”

“It was a _joke_!” Donna all but yelled in the restaurant.

John paled. “What do you mean, it was a joke?”

Jack rubbed his forehead before leaning his elbows on the table. “We played a trick on you guys, making you think you got married.”

“But you weren’t supposed to actually do it!”

John and Rose looked at each other before looking back at Jack and Donna. At the same time, the married couple asked, “ _What?_ ”


	6. Chapter 6

**TWO NIGHTS EARLIER**

“Do you think this is a good idea?” Jack asked Donna as he half carried a barely walking John, who kept muttering about space and time travel.

“Of course it is! I’m the one who thought of it, yeah?” Donna replied, her arm around Rose, who kept giggling to herself.

“True, true. But maybe…No, you’re right. This is good.”

“I told you. Now, let’s do this.” Donna stopped in front of John’s door and said, “John, where’s your room key?” When the man replied with nothing more than information about the fourth dimension, Donna almost groaned before ordering, “Jack. Search him.”

“Why do I have to?” he replied, but felt into his pockets for his wallet. John giggled, making Rose laugh. When he pulled it out, he clumsily took out the key and tried putting into the slot, continually missing. He looked back at Donna. “I think it’s broken.”

“Oh, give it here,” Donna said, moving to get the card. However, she moved so quickly that Rose—who was leaning on her—fell to the floor. She was laughing loudly.

“Rose!” John said, pushing away from Jack to help her up. But his legs weren’t moving correctly and instead of helping her up, he fell on top of her. Both laughed way too loudly.

“Shush!” Donna said, trying for the third time to open the door. Finally it worked, and the green light went on. She opened the door and held it open as Jack helped John up and led him to the bed.

Donna helped Rose into the bed, where she immediately bumped into John, who put his arms around her, lazily shushing her. For the second time, Jack wondered if this really was a good idea.

“Jack, listen to me. In the gift shop there is a fake license. A fake marriage license. I need you to get it.” Donna wasn’t standing too well, considering she was leaning heavily on the dresser. They all had way too much to drink, which is why Donna came up with this idea in the first place. “ _A joke_ ,” she said, “ _something we’ll laugh about in the morning_.”

Jack, always up for a joke, quickly agreed. But now she had him shopping?

“Donna, why don’t you go?”

“Because you can walk better than I— _hiccup_ —can.”

“But you know—You know what you mean.”

“Do I have to do everything?” Donna asked, raising her voice a bit. She would have sounded very threatening is she didn’t hiccup again.

“Yes. Because you’re brilliant.”

“I know.” She gestured towards John and Rose. “Make sure that they don’t get married.”

“You better not get married.”

Donna walked towards the door and said over her shoulder, “I’ll try, but no— _hiccup_ —guarantees.”

Jack looked back at the couple on the bed as the door slammed shut. Neither John, nor Rose flinched at the loud noise. The only movement they made was Rose snuggling closer to the man next to her. Jack again wondered if this was a bright idea. It was clear these two were crazy about each other, but for reasons only they understood, neither said a word. Jack hadn’t even known them for a long time—has known John longer, of course, but back when they first met, all John talked about was ‘the girl back home.’ Days after John first brought her up, Jack finally asked him what the girl’s name was. “ _Rose,_ ” John said, with a small smile. “ _Her name is Rose._ ”

It was in that moment that he knew his roommate was in love. However, when Jack asked him how long they were together, John looked stunned as he stuttered, “ _Oh—We—No, I mean—We never—We’re not together. Friends. Just friends_.”

Jack never believed it. Even when John invited him to London for the holidays—Jack had no one in terms of family; John was the closest thing he had, really—and he saw firsthand how they interacted with each other, he still didn’t believe it. It was like they were a couple without being a couple.

Jack asked Donna how long they had been dancing around each other. She snorted and said, “ _Pretty much from the moment they met._ ” That night Donna and Jack made a bet on how long it would take them to realize their love for each other. Donna bet it would take two years, tops. Jack said one month.

They were both horribly wrong.

Five years later, and they _still_ didn’t see what everyone else saw. Jack wondered how that could even be possible.

Rose rolled away from John, snuggling into herself. ‘ _She must be cold_ ,’ Jack thought and stumbled towards the bed. It was actually quite difficult to get the cover out from underneath her, but Jack somehow managed it. He just covered her when there was a knock on the door.

Jack bumped into the wall a couple of time before leaning on the door. “Who is it?”

“The Queen of England,” Donna’s harsh voice replied. “Who do you _think?_ ”

Jack opened the door and Donna marched through, walking not much sturdier than he was. She put down the license on the dresser before looking through her purse for a pen. “I can sign for Rose,” she said when she finally found one. “You sign for John, kay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

They both signed the paper and looked back at the couple on the bed.

“They are going to freak out, you know that right?” Jack whispered. Or at least, he tried. He really wasn’t speaking that softly.

“I know. But it will be so funny as they try to explain what happened. Or at least, what they _think_ happened.” Donna smiled before heading towards the door. She stopped suddenly—making Jack bump into her—as she said, “Oops, I almost forgot!” Reaching into her bag, she pulled out two plastic circles. She handed one to Jack before moving closer to the bed.

Jack looked at the plastic circle. It was from one of those gumball machines, only instead of gum, you get a prize. This was an obviously fake gold ring. “What am I doing with this?”

“Put it somewhere he’ll see it,” Donna said, taking Rose’s left hand and slipping the ring onto her ring finger.

Jack noticed John’s watch near the “license” and opened the container placing the ring next his watch.

“Rose’s stuff!” Jack realized just before they left the room.

“What?”

“Rose’s stuff! We have to move in here.”

Donna nodded. “You’re right. Okay, you go get her stuff and I’ll wait here.”

“Got it.” Giving a mock salute, Jack headed towards the door. He stopped just inside the room. “How do I get into her room?”

Donna groaned, as though she was working with an idiot and stumbled towards Rose’s purse. She took out her friend’s wallet and took out the card key. “Room 1009. Now go!”

Jack went towards the room and though it took some time, eventually found it, opened the door, and packed up all of Rose’s belongings. In the small amount of time they had been staying there, it seemed like Rose had spread out all of her stuff throughout the room. Finally, her suitcase packed, Jack closed the door and headed back towards John’s room, which thankfully was not too far away.

Jack knocked on the door and Donna immediately opened it, greeting him with, “I called the front desk pretending to be Rose and I had the room cancelled.”

Jack rolled Rose’s suitcase into the room and laid it next to the dresser. “Good. They will totally think they got married.

Donna opened the suitcase up before saying, “Wait, we’re not changing them, right? Please say no.”

“No, it’s fine. Leave it like that,” he said, fixing her hand over the suitcase.

“ _This_ will be so funny in the morning,” Donna giggled.

Jack couldn’t help but smile. These two trying to figure out what happened would mostly certainly be a hoot. He wished he could watch them as they figured out it was all a joke.

“And we’re not saying anything?”

“Nope. Not a word.” She pointed at Jack sternly and said slowly, “Not. A. Word.”

Jack gave a mock salute as they both headed towards the door.

 

~*~

 

**PRESENT DAY**

“Wait a minute,” John said, leaning forward, both elbows on the table. “You _planned_ this?” He couldn’t decide whether to laugh or yell. Right now he was leaning towards yelling.

“We didn’t think you would be serious about it!” Donna almost shouted back. The Noble temper was flaring up, and neither sibling was going to back down.

“It was just a joke,” Jack said, lamely.

“Obviously it fell flat,” Rose muttered.

“It sounded like something we would just laugh about in the morning,” Jack commented, trying to ease the tension. If the looks Donna and John were sending to each other were any indication, World War III was about to break out any moment. “I mean, we knew that you guys—Well, that you were in love with each other.”

“How did you—?” John asked, turning to look at Jack, surprised.

“Are you serious? The first time you mentioned Rose I knew. Mate, you were crazy about her, long before any of this happened.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you two actually _got married_!” Donna screeched.

“Donna, lower your voice,” Rose softly replied. “We’ll tell you what happened if you just—”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” John interrupted, asking a question that was burning on his mind.

“What?”

“Why didn’t you say anything to us that morning?”

“We were waiting for you to bring it up,” Donna replied.

“And when we didn’t?”

Jack shrugged. “We didn’t want to make a big deal over it. Like we said, it was just a joke.”

“You both knew how we felt about each other, though,” Rose commented. She leaned over and gently took one of John’s hands. “You didn’t think it would open our eyes to our feelings for each other?”

“In a way, yes,” Jack admitted. “Just not to this caliber.”

“I thought it would make one of you to ask the other out on a date. I just—” Donna took a deep breath. “What made you get _married_?”

“Well,” Rose said, leaning forward, “let’s start from the beginning.”

Rose and John told Jack and Donna everything. From the moment they woke up that fateful morning to when they walked down the aisle. They admitted how they freaked out and panicked about having to tell Donna and Jack what they did. They confessed about how heartbroken and upset they were when they found out it was all fake. They told them why they got married, and why it had to be done now.

“I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her” John said softly, looking at his beautiful wife. She smiled up at him and he couldn’t help it. He leaned down for a kiss.

“You two are going to be that sickening couple, aren’t you?” Donna asked, though she wasn’t as angry as she previously was.

Rose and John smiled at each other before looking at Donna. “Yeah, probably.”

Donna shook her head. “Idiots, the both of you. Idiots for taking so long, and idiots for rushing.”

“Well, we do have to thank you,” Rose said. Using her free hand – the other one was being held tightly in John’s—Rose lifted one of her glasses and said, “For drunk jokes that turned out to be the best idea ever.”

The other three lifted their glasses and toasted to it.

Jack looked at his watch. “Oh, we gotta go! We’re going to be late!”

John flagged down the waiter and got the check as Donna leaned over towards Rose. “Rose, I just…Congratulations. I’m so…I’m so happy my idiotic brother opened his eyes and realized what was right in front of him. I knew back when we were kids that you two were the real deal.”

Rose smiled with pleasure. “Thank you, Donna, I’m so happy, I don’t have words for it. John is everything to me.” Something Donna said caught Rose’s attention, however, and she had to ask, “Wait, what do you mean since we were kids? John and I talked about it. We both realized how we felt for the other one when we were teenagers.”

Donna leaned back with a grin. “Oh, you two were very clearly blind.”

Once the check was paid and their bags were collected, the four of them walked towards the door, John and Rose’s hands swinging between them.

“Oh, John?” Donna asked, in an overly sweet voice.

“Yeah?”

Walking backwards, Donna grinned. “You have the fun of telling Mum you eloped.”

John paled and Rose stopped walking. “How are we going to tell _my_ mother?”

They looked at each other, holding onto the other’s hand for dear life.

“Together?” John asked.

Rose gave a small grin. “Always.”


End file.
